Three INTs Doom Brees, Chargers

Denis Savage

12/08/2002

The Chargers fell to the Oakland Raiders 27-7 at home in front of a crowd of 67,968, which contained many Raider fans despite the Chargers efforts to deter the raucous crowd. By losing they lost hold of the division lead and now are in a fight for the playoffs at 8-5.

The Raiders came out with a quick strike on their first possession. Marcus Knight took the opening kickoff 65 yards and set the table for the Raiders offense. Rich Gannon (26-41, 328 yards), who passed the 300 yard mark for the 10th time this season setting an NFL record by becoming the first quarterback to do so, went 4-4 on the drive and Charlie Garner capped it off with a 4 yard TD run to put the Raiders up quickly, 7-0.

Sebastian Janikowski would follow with a 51 yard field goal on the next Raider possession to put the score at 10-0 and an apparent rout appeared to be on.

The Chargers then stifled the Raider offense three straight times forcing three-and-outs. Finally, the Chargers scored a touchdown to close the score to 10-7. LaDainian Tomlinson took one in from 1 yard out. Drew Brees (22-41, 239 yards, 3 interceptions) hit Eric Parker on a crucial third down to keep the drive going.

It would be the last score the Chargers got on the day.

Janikowski extended the Raider to a 13-3 lead with :13 seconds remaining in the half on a 23 yard field goal. They got the ball at midfield off an interception as Rod Woodson picked off Brees.

The Raider capitalized on another pick of Brees, the third of the day, by Tory James deep in Oakland territory. The Raiders then drove 87 yards behind the arm of Gannon, 3-4 on the drive for 74 yards, and scored from 1 yard out on a Zack Crockett run to bring the score to 20-7.

Tyrone Wheatley punched one in from 1 yard out in the fourth quarter equaling the final score of 27-7. Gannon again proved his worth by going 5-7 on the drive for 52 yards.